Nutritional Supplements Information |
Can You Drink Your Way To Good Health?
Many years ago I became convinced of the need to take vitamin and mineral supplements. Although I tried to eat healthy meals, mixing salads, fruits and vegetables, proteins and grains as wisely as I could, numerous studies pointed out the need to add nutritional supplements to my diet. Major Study The major study that caught my attention most strongly was the 1977-1978 USDA National Food Consumption Survey (Crocetti and Guthrie, 1982). This study surveyed the 3-day dietary records of over 21,500 individuals. Among other findings the study showed that not one person consumed 100% of the Recommended Daily Allowance for the top ten nutrients. That was a rather shocking finding. Not one single person! I prided myself in eating well, but I decided that it would be a good idea to supplement my meals with additional vitamins and minerals. Taking Tablets I started out by taking a single multivitamin daily. Then, over the years I added additional tablets of antioxidants, namely vitamin C and vitamin E. In more recent years I added calcium tablets and B vitamin tablets to my routine. As you can guess, the result was that I was taking 5 tablets of supplements twice a day. Does that sound familiar to you? That's a lot of tablets to swallow. Taking that many tablets each day was never pleasant for me. Many times I wished that there was an easier way to take the supplements that I felt I needed. Liquid Supplements Then a friend introduced me to a nutritional supplement that I could drink. Now that made sense. A good, potent liquid nutritional was certainly much easier and much tastier than a handful of tablets. The convenience and good taste of the liquid was enough to convince me to abandon the tablet delivery system. But I learned further that the liquid form of the vitamins and minerals was more apt to be easily absorbed by my body than were the old tablets. Absorption Unfortunately tablets do not always digest fully in the stomach. Sometimes they only digest partially as they pass through the digestive system which allows only part of their potency to be absorbed by the cells. In fact, the Physician's Desk Reference, a highly respected reference book, once reported that the absorbency of vitamin tablets can be as low as 10%. What that means is that very little of the available nutrients are actually utilized by the body and its cells. By contrast, vitamins and minerals in a liquid form can be absorbed by the body's cells at a much higher rate. As high as 95%. The liquid is more easily digested and absorbed by the digestive system than tablets are. Further, the absorbency of the liquid vitamins starts at the tongue and beneath the tongue. This sublingual delivery helps to get the nutritional benefit to the cells much faster. How does this work? Take nitroglycerin for example. Nitroglycerin is effective for combating anginal chest pains associated with heart disease. An effective way to deliver the nitroglycerin is to place it beneath the tongue at the first sign of chest pain. This sublingual delivery gets the nitroglycerin into the bloodstream and to the chest pain much faster than it would if it had to be swallowed, digested, and absorbed into the bloodstream through the digestive system. Similarly, vitamins and minerals will absorb into the bloodstream and to the cells much faster in liquid or spray form. For example, vitamin B-12 is an important vitamin, but as we get older we lose the stomach secretions necessary to digest and absorb the vitamin through the normal digestive process. The solution to the problem is to deliver vitamin B-12 in either a spray or a sublingual form. That way the potency of the vitamin is delivered quickly to the cells and the digestive system is bypassed. How To Choose Taste really counts. If it doesn't taste good, you won't be likely to take the supplement on a regular basis. If it tastes good, you will. So will your children. There are numerous liquid nutritional supplements available on the market. Typical flavors include orange-mango, cherry, and cranberry among others. My personal favorite is a rich cranberry concentrate. Not only does the taste make my mouth water, but it is good to know that cranberries have properties that help to cleanse and to remove toxins from the urinary tract. A good liquid nutritional supplement should use aloe vera as its base rather than water. Liquid aloe vera contains more than 39 essential vitamins and minerals and all 23 amino acids. Further, liquid aloe vera is a powerful healer. It is one of the best stomach and intestine cleansers known. And it is a wonderful oxygenator, anti-bacterial, and anti-inflammatory. Most good liquid nutritional supplements will utilize sea vegetation as its source of vitamins and minerals. A good mix of sea vegetation will contain an important natural balance of all of the essential vitamins, minerals, trace minerals, and enzymes. The concept of balance is very important here, because the body's cells will utilize the nutrients much more efficiently if they are supplied in a balance normally found in nature. Further, sea vegetation can be harvested from cold, pure seawater that is free of contaminants. The body's cells will appreciate that. Personal Recommendation I have sampled numerous liquid supplements and I am pleased to report that liquid supplements have grown in popularity and improved in taste and effectiveness during the past few years. Seasilver is my personal favorite liquid nutritional and I recommend it highly to everyone. Seasilver has adopted the highest manufacturing standards and has found a blend of sea vegetation, aloe vera, and several other impressive and effective ingredients that form an outstanding foundational health supplement. And it has the great cranberry/cherry taste that I prefer. The result is that Seasilver is a powerful nutritional supplement that provides the body with nourishment at the cellular level. Answer To The Question So, the answer to the question originally asked is that yes you can drink your way to good health. If you have ever tired of consuming vitamin tablets or if you've ever wondered about the potency of artificially formulated tablets, you owe it to yourself to try a good liquid nutritional supplement. Try a bottle or two. Here's to your good health. ***************************** Garry Gamber is a public school teacher and entrepreneur. He writes articles about real estate, health and nutrition, and internet dating services. He is the owner of http://www.Anchorage-Homes.com and http://www.TheDatingAdvisor.com.
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Discover Natural Supplements That Really Give Relief From Arthritic Pain If you suffer from arthritis pain, chances are you've heard of a relatively new over-the-counter remedy called Glucosamine. But what is Glucosamine, and how does it work to relieve arthritis? In this article, I'll introduce you to this new treatment and provide you with the pros and cons of its use. By the time you've finished reading this article, you'll be able to make an informed decision on whether or not Glucosamine is right for you. The Perfect Supplement I wanted to write this article because of my sincere belief that everybody in the world should be taking the product I am about to talk about "Greens First". This product contains over 49 super foods and tastes absolutely delicious. I have personally been on this super product for over 3 years now. I can't say enough about it. It is the only product that I can say absolutely positively works!! And the best part about it is it mixes in water very easily and you take it once a day first thing in the morning. And it doesn't taste like sawdust or make you want to hold your nose trying to get it down. It is like tasting clear water with a minty taste to it. It really is a refreshing taste. The Most Important Supplement You Can Take For Better Health This article will reveal one easy change you can make that will help better your health... The Benefits of Coenzyme Q10 Coenzyme Q10 has exploded onto the health scene. This powerful mineral has many health saving properties. It is responsible for essential chemical reactions in your body as well as being a dynamite antioxidant. Will Your Vitamins Be Banned? Imagine this scenario by the end of next August... Bodybuilding Supplements May Not Be Necessary To supplement or not to supplement ? that is the question on more bodybuilder's lips than ever before. Are they safe? What works and what doesn't? B-Vitamins Help Promote Healthy Arteries and Heart A 2002 study reported, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation reported that a six-month regiment of taking folic acid, vitamin b12, and vitamin b6 can be instrumental in the prevention of recurring blocked arteries in coronary angioplasty patients. The Benefits of Whey Protein Concentrate Whey protein concentrate popularity has increased dramatically in recent years because of advances in processing technology. Whey protein begins as a watery byproduct of cheese manufacturing. In its crude state, whey is about 93% water, 6.5% lactose, 0.9% protein and 0.2% vitamins, minerals, and fat-soluble nutrients. In this form, whey is not of much benefit to athletes, but with gentle low-temperature processing and filtration, this liquid can be stripped of most of its lactose, fat, cholesterol and water to yield concentrated whey powders containing anywhere from 34 to 89% protein. Revealed! The Secrets of Mangosteen Do you spend at least some time in your day thinking about your health or that of a loved one? Do you also find the subject is frustrating, mainly because there is a lot of confusing and sometimes contradictory information out there? Calcium Supplement - The Importance of Taking One Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the human body and also an important supplement to take. Calcium is needed to form bones and teeth and is also required for blood clotting, transmission of signals in nerve cells, and muscle contraction. The importance of calcium for preventing osteoporosis, however, is probably its most well-known role. The Frightening But True Facts About Smoking If you think that smoking is a harmless little hobby and all the people harping on you to quit are overreactors, think again. Smoking is the number ONE preventable cause of premature death and morbidity in America. There is nothing more dangerous you can be doing to your health. And it isn't just bad for you, smoking around your kids can cause severe health complications down the road and cause serious damage while their lungs and other vital organs are developing. All of this information is well documented by the AMA, American Lung and Heart Associations, and the American Cancer Society. Dietary and Nutritional Supplements: Know More About Supplements At times, due to your busy and fast life, we tend to miss out on the essential nutrients such as protien, vitamins and minerals which are responsible for our good health. Good nutrition is the most important factor in achieving optimal health. If we face some type of challenges in life which doesn't allow us to have a balanced diet all the time, then supplementing out daily diet with food supplements is quick, easy and effective way to fill nutrient gaps. 3 Steps to Identify Supplements that Lack Scientific Evidence You read about a supplement that allegedly "Boosts your mood and motivation!" That sure sounds good so your surf over to the company's web site. The web site looks official--it's even got footnotes citing scientific journals. You're ready to purchase the supplement online until you ask yourself, "What if this supplement doesn't really possess any scientific evidence for its efficacy? How can I tell the difference between supplements with solid evidence for their reported benefits versus those lacking any scientific support?" Here are the 3 Steps to answer those questions: Step 1: Go to http://www.pubmed.org which is a National Library of Medicine (United States) web site where you can search for articles published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Why check PubMed? Because the National Library of Medicine carefully selects only high-quality journals that offer value to medical scientists around the world. Selection criteria are detailed on this web page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/jsel.html Step 2: Once on the PubMed web site, search for research articles using the generic (scientific) name of the supplement in question. Supplement manufacturers must list the scientific name for their supplement's ingredients on the label and in advertisements. Supplements often contain many ingredients but usually only a few provide the purported benefits. Those are the ingredients you want to evaluate--they are often the same ones the manufacturer highlights in advertisements. Step 3: This is the step some supplement companies don't want you to know. Before you click on the "Search" button at PubMed.org, limit your search to studies that utilize the right research methodology with the right population. The right research methodology is a randomized controlled trial (the double-blind, placebo control group design fits under this category) and the right population is human beings. Specifying human subjects is important because you want to know if the ingredients in a supplement have been shown to produce the advertised benefits in real live human beings--not just in rats pressing levers for food pellets or in a "case study" with one person. This is not to say that basic science research, which is often conducted initially with animals, is unimportant. On the contrary, such research usually serves as a crucial building block for subsequent clinical research with humans. But basic science research does not provide scientific evidence for a supplement's beneficial health effects on human beings. Only research with human subjects, using randomized controlled trials, can offer such evidence. On the PubMed.org search page, click on the "Limits" tab located under the "Search" box. You will see a number of drop-down menus. First click on the Publication Type menu and then select Randomized Controlled Trial. Next click on the drop-down menu labeled, Humans or Animals and click on Humans. An Example Morinda citrifolia is the scientific name for a popular ingredient in a nutritional supplement. First search on PubMed for Morinda citrifolia, without placing Limits on your search. How many results did you receive? The count was 69 at the time I wrote this article. Looks impressive, huh? But now search for Morinda citrifolia after first placing Limits on the search as described above, so that you receive only those studies which provide more definitive scientific evidence for the positive effects of Morinda citrifolia. How many journal articles did you find searching with the specified limits? I found 1. Thus, out of 69 articles found on PubMed.org, only one provides some evidence for Morinda citrifolia's beneficial effects. Know Your Bodybuilding Supplement - ZMA ZMA is a scientifically designed anabolic mineral formula containing zinc monomethionine aspartate, magnesium aspartate and vitamin B-6. Studies have shown that it has a clinical effect on testosterone levels when taken in a combination containing 30 mg of zinc and 450 mg of magnesium per day. The most famous study conducted by Lorrie Brilla at Western Washington University indicated that this combination could raise testosterone levels by as much as 30%. Vitamins and Their Role in Our Lives Vitamins, like minerals, are an essential part of the function and health of the body system. While many vitamins serve individual purposes, the more common way for vitamins to function properly is as cofactors to or in partnership with other vitamins, minerals, nutrients and other substances in the body such as enzymes. Some of the most important processes in the body are the result of Vitamins partnering with each other to achieve certain affects, processes or functions. 8 Minerals Every Arthritis Sufferer Should Know About Minerals are essential to maintain our bodies in top condition ... ImmunPlex: Highest Quality Natural Whey ImmunPlex? is an undenatured whey protein isolate that contains many proteins, peptides, and other key nutrients that promotes enhanced immune function and energy, comforts muscle and joints, and supports the elimination of toxic metals. It has lecithin, a useful compound that makes our whey protein mix easily with any drink. Natural vanilla flavoring is added to ImmunPlex to provide a palate pleasing nutritional drink that goes down easy. CortiCarb3000 Reviewed: Does It Perform As Promised? Carbohydrate blockers seem to have come and gone with the low carb craze. Basic carbohydrate blockers are available everywhere. CortiCarb3000 was introduced last year with little fan fare or marketing. Dynamic Nutritional Research seemed to have known something many did not. A Mothers Fish Tale Sometimes I used to look at my son Shawn and ask: who is this little monster I gave birth to? Of course I did love him, but he was an absolute terror. If "terrible 2" had a dictionary definition, Shawn's picture would definately be there. The Science Behind Phytonutrient Rich Soy Based Products A healthier diet is very much in the news these days, given such initiatives as Jamie Oliver's campaign to change the eating habits of our younger generation.Not an easy task as adults like us need to be educated as well. |
home | site map |
© 2005 |